Thrifty Free Rental Email Mistakenly Sent to Wrong Customers
Corporate parent Hertz offers apology.
An emailed offer for a free one-day rental from Thrifty went to the wrong customers, according to an Associated Press report.
Paula Rivera, Hertz’s manager of public affairs North America, told The Associated Press that the offer was meant only for select members of Thrifty’s Blue Chip frequent-renter program. The email offered a free day of rental after the Blue Chip member paid for 16 days of rentals.
Last Friday night, the offer was emailed to all customers that had simply signed up to be on Thrifty’s email list, Rivera told The Associated Press.
“Unfortunately, this was a human error, and as soon as we became aware of the mass email distribution, we took steps to correct the situation,” Rivera told The Associated Press.
A follow-up email was sent to customers on Saturday that indicated the mistake: “We’re very sorry for any confusion our eagerness may have caused.”
Click here for the full Associated Press report:
http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_23479994/free-rental-car-oops-thrifty-says-email-offer
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